D.K. Shivaku­mar in­au­gu­rates event in Ben­galuru

Protests by the BJP and rightwing out­fits, cou­pled with the no-show of Kar­nataka Chief Min­is­ter H.D. Ku­maraswamy and his Deputy G. Paramesh­wara, marked the Tipu Jayan­thi cel­e­bra­tions on Satur­day.

This was the first Tipu Jayan­thi after the coali­tion govern­ment came to power in the State in May. How­ever, it turned out to be a low-key af­fair as both the Chief Min­is­ter and the Deputy Chief Min­is­ter skipped the event or­gan­ised at the Ban­quet Hall of Vid­hana Soudha.

Mr. Ku­maraswamy did not at­tend the event cit­ing doc­tor’s ad­vice to take rest for three days. While he was in the Op­po­si­tion, he had ques­tioned the need for Tipu Jayan­thi cel­e­bra­tions — a move started by the pre­vi­ous Sid­dara­ma­iah-led Congress govern­ment in 2015.

Fol­low­ing the Chief Min­is­ter’s de­ci­sion to skip the event, re­ports had emerged about a dif­fer­ence of opin­ion be­tween the rul­ing coali­tion part­ners over the cel­e­bra­tions.

How­ever, on Satur­day Mr. Ku­maraswamy tweeted: “The govern­ment will ob­serve Tipu Sul­tan’s birth an­niver­sary to­day across the State. We salute his valour against the Bri­tish forces. His pro­gres­sive mea­sures in ad­min­is­tra­tion were equally com­mend­able.”

Mr. Paramesh­wara did not at­tend the event as he had to leave for Sin­ga­pore. Tipu Jayan­thi was cel­e­brated in Kodagu on Satur­day amid protests from the BJP. Three BJP leg­is­la­tors — Ap­pachu Ran­jan, Su­nil Subra­mani and K.G. Bopaiah — along with scores of party ac­tivists were taken into cus­tody.